All We Have Left
by xxoreno
Summary: A three-shot between Bryn and Chris as in ConfederatePrincess' story. Contains major spoilers. Mainly fluff. *Some minor things have been changed for the sake of the story*
1. Chapter 1

**Hello! Due to the lack of good Everest fics, I decided to write one after being inspired by "Not Everyone Makes it to the Top" and seeing the little bit ConfederatePrincess wrote between Bryn and Chris (used w/ permission) **

**I loved the series, but (being a teenage girl) thought it needed some romance. So I decided to write a three-shot between these two. I don't actually have the books with me, so bear w/ me if I get come facts wrong, plus I changed a few things for the sake of the story. Takes place between Tilt dying and Dominic and Ethan returning to Base Camp. **

Chris Alexis could only stare at his parents. The cell phone that had brought the worst news of his life lay on the couch. Just moments earlier, Cap Cicero had delivered the news that his little brother was most likely dead. Dominic had climbed with Ethan Zaph against Cap's knowledge, and Chris had rejoiced with his brother when the news came that the two of them had summited. Only when they hadn't returned to the SummitQuest camp or the German's camp had the bad news come. Dominic and Ethan were dead.

Suddenly he couldn't stand his mom crying or his dad trying not to anymore. He made his way to the door and pulled on his jacket while rushing into the cool March air, fighting his own tears. He leaned against the porch. Dominic was his brother. Ethan was one of his closest friends. Key word being was, as in not anymore. Because they were dead. He didn't want to believe it. It didn't seem real. This was some horrific nightmare. He jumped of the porch and hit the ground running. Anything to keep the tears back. Anything to keep him from thinking.

Bryn Fieldler received the news via a news broadcast. She'd looked up from the book she had been reading when her mom had told her something about SummitQuest was on. When the reporter had said that Dominic Alexis, Ethan Zaph had summated earlier, she had cheered. But when he had continued his report by saying, "Only now we have received the latest from Nepal. Zaph and Alexis and their teammate Norman Crowley have now been presumed dead. Crowley summated earlier as well but is now reported missing. He went looking for Zaph and Alexis but all radio contact has been lost with him. Zaph and Alexis also lost radio contact and have not been seen at the SummitQuest camp or at any other camp in the area." That was all they had at the moment. Her mother had a horrified look on her face. She turned to say something to Bryn, but before she could, Bryn was running out the door. The cold air enveloped her and shoulders shook while she cried. Dominic, Ethan, and Tilt were dead. Dominic could have been her little brother. She would have died if not for him! Ethan was her close friend. She cried for Tilt too. He had treated her like she wasn't a good climber, but he still deserve to die. He was only fourteen for god's sake! She started walking, hugging her self against the cold. She knew all about the reports that Dominic was supposedly too young to climb. She had known he wasn't. She knew he could do it. He had, but it hadn't ended right. More tears came and she wiped them away. She could only imagine what their families were going through, what Chris…

What was he going through? Dominic was his little brother. She remembered the last time she'd seen him, in Alaska. He'd flown all the up from New Hampshire to see her and Dominic. It had been so sweet and the two of them had talked for a couple of hours. Since then, they'd texted and talked on the phone off and on. And those blue eyes…

She pushed thoughts of him out of her mind and kept walking, thinking of nothing.

Chris glanced at his cell phone an hour later after running until he could barely walk back. It was getting dark and the light from his phone illuminated the sidewalk. He looked at Bryn's text, much longer than usual.

_"Chris, you doing okay? I heard on the news. It doesn't even seem real, does it? I have no idea how you must feel. I'm so sorry. Please call me, I couldn't reach you." _

He knew she meant well, but reading her describe his own feelings just sharpened the pain. He wanted to call her, wanted to hear her voice, but he knew if he started talking to her, he'd just break down. He thought back to the SummitQuest training in Colorado, remembering how he'd barged into her alone in the lounge one night.

_Flashback-_

"_Oh, sorry. I can, uh, come back later." He'd stammered when he walked into the lounge to find her watching a movie alone late at night. She turned the volume down. _

"_You can stay, Chris. I don't mind. I just couldn't sleep so I thought I'd find something on TV to watch." She hadn't told him that she was afraid that if she sleep she'd sleepwalk and cause even more trouble. _

_Awkwardly, he had sat on the couch next to her while she turned the volume back up. _

"_What's this?" he'd asked her. She'd looked at him, eyebrows raised. _

"_You've never seen_ Grease_ before?" She'd laughed while he'd just shrugged. "We can watch something else." She turned it off. "Or talk or something." He shrugged again. _

"_I don't have much experience in talking like girls do, according to my ex-girlfriend." He had said. Bryn smiled. "Well, Andrew used to tell me I wanted to talk all the time." _

"_Who's Andrew?" He had asked, stupidly. Bryn blushed. _

"_My ex-boyfriend. I broke up with him a few months ago." _

"_Well, why would anyone break up with you?" He wondered allowed, blushing himself when he realized what he'd said. _

"_I broke up with him. He was cheating on me." _

"_Funny story. Jennifer cheated on me so I broke up with her." _

_Bryn had laughed had said something about them two of a kind._

"_Two of a kind, all right." He'd said, grinning. She looked him in the eye and he looked away. She took his hand. _

"_You really liked her, didn't you?" He gulped. _

"_Nah, she wasn't that great. Not like y—"She didn't say anything, but he saw more color in her cheeks. Something changed then, with her looking so beautiful and them talking about dating. He'd leaned down, about to kiss her when Dominic had opened the door and…_

_-End flashback-_

He would even miss Dominic opening the door and ruining his moment with the prettiest girl he knew.


	2. Chapter 2

**I forgot to say what I changed, so if you're confused, read this. In the book(s) it never actually said Ethan was friends with Bryn or Chris, but it seemed probable. And Cap probably did not tell the press anything between Dominic going missing and then being found, er, whatever you want to call it, but I added it for a angst-y factor. I'm going to kind of lengthen the time frame they were missing as well….so enjoy! **

The alarm clock beeped and Chris reached out to turn it off. He had no desire to get up and go to school, and he knew no one would expect him to go. He shut his eyes again and tried to go back to sleep, but he couldn't get his mind of Dominic. Questions that he didn't want to know the answers too filled his mind. What were Dominic's last moments like? Had he frozen to death or taken a wrong turn? Was he even dead or just wandering around, lost, until exhaustion took over? Sleep never came. He remembered Bryn's text message and felt bad about not answering. He gritted his teeth. Answering her would just keep the grief about Dominic fresh. No matter what he did, he could never get the thoughts out of his mind. Part of him wanted to talk to someone. He'd avoided his parents, trying in vain to forget by not focusing on anything that reminded him of his brother. But even being in this house reminded him of Dominic. Frustrated, he climbed out of bed when his phone blinked. It was another message from Bryn asking him to call her. He turned it off and flopped back down.

Bryn checked her phone for the millionth time. She knew Chris was ignoring her, but she didn't know why. She tried to put on a brave face and pushed the door to the school open. She'd begged her parents to let her stay home, but her mom had said going to school would "get her mind of things." As if. Everyone would be hounding her, asking if she was okay and all of that. All she really wanted to do was talk to Chris.

"Oh my god, Bryn, I watched the news last night. Are you, like, okay?" Her friend Amy asked, running up to her in the hall. _Of course, Amy. Of course I'm fine after three people I knew just died! _ She almost spoke her thoughts out loud, but decided against it.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Thanks for asking." She said. "See you later." She called as she exited into her first class, seeing everyone look up and start whispering. It was going to be long day.

Chris found himself running again. It was the only way to keep everything out of his head. He hated leaving the house the way he did, shrugging off his parents' concern. His mom had asked to talk to him, and he'd replied, "I'm fine, mom. If I wanted to talk to you or anyone else, I would have done it by now." He'd slammed the door behind him, already feeling guilty. Exhausted yet again, Chris flopped onto a nearby bench. He was torn up inside. He suddenly wished that Dominic hadn't had made it into SummitQuest. He wished it was him dead in the snow and ice instead of Dominic. When Dominic had summated, he'd been elated as the little guy must have been. He thought his brother would be unstoppable, that the storm racing to the summit wouldn't come. But it had. And there was nothing he could do about it. Ethan and Tilt joined the tally. They were both good men, and all three were too young to die.

Midway into class, she finally got a message from Chris. Ignoring her teacher's "no phones" rule, she read it quickly.

_Thanks for the concern; you're right it doesn't seem real._

She pocketed the phone quickly. It was simply a courtesy response, not an actual response. She knew him well enough to know he was trying to avoid talking about Dominic to try and forget it. Her phone blinked again and she read another text from him.

_ Sorry for not getting back to you earlier. Call me soon and we'll talk. _

She glanced up at her teacher, spirits plummeting when she heard what they were going to talk about.

"In 1953, the New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, a Nepali sherpa climber would make history. They would become the first men to summit the tallest mountain in the world, Everest." She said. Bryn glanced at her desk. _Could we talk about something else today? Anything but this._ She thought indignantly. "The north side of the mountain is the most dangerous and the hardest ascent. Many climbers have lost their lives on this section." Her teacher continued. Against her will, Bryn felt the tears forming in her eyes. Next to her, one of the snobby girls, Kelsey, snickered and poked one of her friends. Bryn heard her whisper. "Someone's upset she didn't make it up the mountain. Too bad her boyfriend couldn't either." Bryn whirled around, feeling her cheeks burning.

"Do you know anything, Kelsey? Do you think I'm crying because I didn't get to go? It's because three of my friends can be added to those statistics. Those guys were some of my best friends. Dominic was _thirteen._ The guy saved my life! I wouldn't be here without him." She pushed back her chair and ran out of the room, not even seeing the shocked look on Kelsey's face. She sagged against the lockers in the hallway, tears running down her face.


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry for the (too) long wait everyone! Here's the last installment! Enjoy!**

It was nearly noon by the time Chris walked home. He crossed the street and walked down the driveway to the side door. He had half a mind to call Bryn and talk to her, but the other part of his mind was determined to forget. He opened the door. The house seemed deserted.

"Mom?" He called, knowing she would be home. He walked into the kitchen. She was on the phone.

"Hold on. Chris is here." She said, putting the phone down. He noticed she was still crying, but she was smiling now. She reached out and hugged him.

"Mom, what's going on?" He asked.

"You aren't going to belive this!"

Bryn stared down at the French test. For the last half hour, she had been congugating words and recognizing vocabulary words with her mind blank. Then, everything had come back to her and she couldn't think. _Do I even know French anymore_? Her mind wandered.

Frustrated, she tried to push all thoughts out of her mind. It wasn't working. Ever since she'd left her class earlier, Bryn had felt numb. She didn't want to think about anything anymore. However, little thoughts crept into her mind. _How long does it take you to freeze to death? Does it hurt?_ She shook her head vehemently to clear those horrible thoughts and tried desperately to focus. She was still worried about Chris. He still hadn't called or texted her back. She wanted to talk to him desperately, and she knew he definitely needed to talk to someone. If this was hitting her hard, she couldn't imagine how tough it would be to lose a brother.

The sound of the teacher's telephone ringing brought her back to the test. She looked back down at the paper and remembered the correct verb endings for conjugation. She finished the last page quickly and got up to turn it in.

"You're leaving early, Bryn. I just got a call from the office. Someone's at the front to pick you up. Take all your stuff." Her teacher whispered, reading from the jotted notes she'd taken on a scrap of paper. Bryn nodded and hurried to collect her things from her desk. There was only one period left in the day to miss. She waved to the teacher and walked down the hallway. Her mom must have decided to let her skip the rest of the day or something.

She signed out in the front office and made her way to the front of the school to wait. But once she got outside, instead of seeing her mom's SUV, she was greeted by Chris.

"Chris? What are you doing here?" She asked, running up to him. He grinned at her.

"I was wondering where you'd been! I've been out here for almost ten minutes!"

"Is everything okay?" Bryn asked.

"Yes, everything is fine!" Chris grabbed her arms. "They're are alive, Bryn!"

"What!? I can't believe it"! She shrieked. Chris laughed and she hugged him. "My god, that's absolutely crazy. What happened?"

"When Dominic and Ethan got to the top, a storm was rolling in. Sammi had to quit climbing because she didn't have enough time. They were going to go to the German's camp, but they missed it and ended up going down the west side."

"They made it down the west side?!" Bryn was completely incredulous. The west side was the absolute hardest side to climb. Chris nodded and continued, "They somehow managed to make it base camp, don't ask me how." He grinned.

"Wait, what about Tilt?" She asked, suddenly realizing he hadn't been with Dominic and Ethan. Chris immediately lost his grin.

"He didn't make it. He went out in the storm to look for them. I have no idea why." _Tilt? Looking for Dominic? _He left her to make her own conclusions on how he had died.

"But, Ethan and Dominic,they're okay, right?"

"Pretty much. Dominic twisted his ankle, but he'll be fine."

"Wow. That's just..." She shook her head, at a loss for words. "Wait, Chris, what are you actually doing here?" They lived states apart. She hadn't even questioned what he was doing in front of her school. Chris laughed at her question.

"SummitQuest sent plane tickets for you and me to go the the funeral. We weren't supposed to be going on the same plane, but my dad bought me one out of Concord to here. We're both on the plane your ticket was for. It leaves tonight."

"You didn't have to do that!" She smiled though, secretly happy he was willing to do that for her.

"I wanted to go on the same plane with you." He shrugged, and blushed slightly.

"Oh, you did, didn't you!" She joked, punching him playfully.

"Come on, I'll drive you home so you can pack." She followed him to the car, and laughed as he opened the passenger door and motioned like a chauffeur for her to get it. Chris waled around and slipped into the driver's seat.

"Chris," she raised her eyebrows at him. "Why'd you _really_ get on the same plane as me?" He put the key in and started the engine.  
"You know what they say," he glanced sideways at her. "All is fair in love and war," She ducked her head and smiled. "So this must be revolution."

"Revolution?" She asked, eyebrows raised jokingly. He shrugged, then backed out of the parking spot.

"We'd better get you home so you can pack." There was silence.

"Chris?"  
"Mmm?"

"Are you happy?" Bryn asked. Chris grinned.

"Heck, yeah." His brother was alive. Ethan was alive. Sammi and Perry had made it off the mountain. Tilt had joined the death count. Chris remembered boot camp in Colorado. With his burly size and demeanor, Tilt had been the least likely to die on the mountain. But now he was, but he had died trying to save Dominic.

The car pulled up at a stoplight. Chris looked over at the girl sitting next to him. "Bryn?" she looked at him and, before he could lose his nerve, Chris leaned over the console and kissed her. The light suddenly turned green. Behind them, cars honked and Chris pulled away and practically floored the car. It bounced and Bryn squealed. Chris looked over at her again, watching her laugh. _Right now, _he realized, _this day can't get much better. _

**Hope you enjoyed this one in all its fluffy glory! I'm sorry if I got some things wrong(like who got a twisted ankle!)I've read the books three times but I don't have them and it's been a while!**

**Thanks SO MUCH to all who read, reviewed and followed/favorited! **

**By the way, anyone want to think about writing another Everest fic? It's fun to write, but I'd love to read a good one! **


End file.
